I cannot begin to tell you how accurately this song describes what I have experienced at TreeHouse since 1989. – Teens lost, lonely, and screaming-longingly to feel heard. – Parents seeking, searching, and silently-longing to be encouraged. – Friends hoping, hurting, and helping their friends limp along. – Youth ministers, teachers, counselors, politicians and police officers looking for solutions. Every week I see the looks on people’s faces when they feel heard and find hope.

On a more personal level, sometimes… – Friendly banter is misunderstood as flirting – Couples breakup when they want nothing but – Partyers having fun get alcohol poisoning – People try meth and become addicts – Teens have sex and become unintended parents – Parents try to build a relationship with their kids and it seems to backfire

The German weekly Der Spiegel has a report about the unintended consequences of child labor laws in one Pakistani city known for producing soccer balls.

Apparently children were frequently employed in the factories, until child labor “advocates” in the West forced companies like Nike and Adidas to ensure that their suppliers weren’t employing children. But what happened to the kids? Surely after they were freed from their toiling in the factories they went to school and now have well-paying office jobs, right?

“None of us,” wrote Christopher Wright, ” needs to be scratched very deep to uncover the darker depths of our worst desires and the evil action any of us is capable of, if pushed.” Moreover, while we are not the overt cause of others’ suffering we cannot escape it’s consequences. 1

As he hung on the cross Jesus Christ quoted Psalm 22: Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

God asked God, “Where are you God?”

As we watch the news, view the video footage, listen to the radio hosts rant, discuss the events with others and ask our questions of God, it’s important to remember we are NOT alone. Pain and painful events make us ask the hard questions when life goes very, very wrong.

Let me back up a step. For more than twenty years I have struggled to provide caring support for those in need.

You see, I’m a head-guy, more than a heart-guy.

As a cerebral-thinker it’s been a challenge to fit the deep emotional pain of people in pain within my worldview. It’s hard sometimes. Naturally I want to: – Assess – Fix – Mind-map – Problem-solve – Trace things back to their origin